The Catholic Calendar for Thursday, March 18, 2004
Thursday of the Third Week of Lent
St. Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop, doctor of the Church

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Jeremiah 7:23-28
Psalm 95:1-2,6-9
Luke 11:14-23

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

“Every Kingdom Divided Against Itself Will Be Laid Waste. . .”

Truer words were never spoken than all of the prophecies that issued from the lips of the Savior. This is a pertinent message to each of us today.

Catholicism is a religion that embraces a great many people, styles of worship, and ideas. Unfortunately, we sometimes have difficulty living together as a family. We each have our own vision of how the faith should play out. We each have our own notions of what is right and proper. Some hold hands during the Our Father, some do not. Some sing certain hymns, others sing no hymns at all. Some think that the Pope is infallible, others carefully define his infallibility, yet others deny any infallibility.

Our job as Catholics is to correct explicit error when it is spoken or taught, but above all not to judge our brothers and sisters in the pew. After all, at very least, they made it to worship. Think how many Catholics show up only for the great Holy Days of the year. And think how many never make it. Yes, some people believe things that are simply incorrect, I used to be among them. But thanks to loving acceptance and a great deal of prayer for me by faithful Catholics, I came to discovery the richness of the treasury of Church teaching. This may happen as well to others who have bought into secular teaching too heavily.

But we have allowed our internal divisions to define ourselves too sharply. We sometimes totter as a house divided. So, to bring the house together, my advice would be: focus on those things we hold in common, pray for those errors that you may know a person holds in their heart, in loving-kindness correct those errors spoken aloud, and above all else, love everyone within and outside of the Church. Pray for their conversion and their walk in the right way. Pray for the Holy Spirit to guide them on and illuminate their path. And avoid judgment. In these ways we may be pleasing to the Lord, gently leading the wayward sheep back to the Shepherd.

- JuandelaCruz
(sriddle415 at yahoo dot com)

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posted by joachim at 4:06 AM